Courtesy: the artist and N.Smith Gallery, Sydney.

Hands are things we notice in others, on which we place great reliance as an indicator of character. Like the face, they are prime areas for the expression of individuality.

The human hand acts as a conduit to our fifth sense: touch. And with the eye in tow, the hand is our main source of contact with our physical environment–they can see around corners, and in the dark–they can function at a distance from our bodies, so ubiquitous with the involvement of human affairs. Especially the tender type.

Ghostly yet tender, The Lovers brings together a suite of intimate compositions by Natasha Walsh focusing on touch and desire rather than eyes looking. Pulling loosely from paintings passed, such as Caravaggio’s The Lute Player (c.1595), Walsh is experimenting with the gesture of her hand painting that of her lovers.

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